Middleton mulls solutions to problem of aging school buses

Saturday

Dec 15, 2012 at 3:15 AM

By Samantha Allensallen@fosters.com

MIDDLETON — The Middleton School Board Wednesday night weighed three options for resolving their problems with their outdated school buses but in the end, opted to hold a special district meeting for voters to decide.

In September, residents confronted the School Board on the issue, noting school buses were frequently breaking down, and in one instance, sparks flew out from under a bus while students were aboard. Parents also reported their students were not getting to and from school on time and others said they were late for work, waiting with their child for the bus to come.

SAU 61 Business Administrator Jeanette Lemay confirmed this week the buses are still routinely breaking down, at least once a week she said, though she pointed out there has not been another case of a breakdown while students were riding.

Superintendent Steve Welford for the SAU 61, where Middleton students attend schools in Farmington, told the board on Wednesday, buses have about a seven-year long life expectancy. Currently, Middleton has five buses, two of which are 1997 models. The others are from 2006 and set to expire in 2013.

The board mulled three options — to lease five new buses, at approximately $120,000 a year, purchase five new buses at approximately $85,000 a vehicle, or to contract with a private company to provide services, which would cost around $260,000 a year. Lemay noted the district would have to go out to bid for more current estimates in the near future.

Vice Chairman of the Middleton School Board Ken Garry proposed the board hold a special district meeting for voters to decide on the question of whether the district should lease five new buses. Welford said a special meeting is not required but Garry said he would prefer it.

“My pulse of this community is that I would want to put it in front of them because a contractual obligation strikes me in a resident’s eye as (qualifying for a special meeting),” Garry said, adding, “I think we’ve talked about it long enough.”

One parent added during the board’s proceedings she and others had been waiting for a decision on this from the administration since the start of the year.

A firm date has yet to be set for the special district meeting, which was approved by the board, and should be held early next year, according to Lemay.

Lemay noted if the district were to lease the vehicles, there is the added expense of driver insurance liability, which she said typically goes up every year. In the meeting, board member Linda Adamo added to purchase new vehicles would require continuous updating of those vehicles, where the district would have to most likely purchase again every seven years.

Wednesday evening, the board also received news that an expired bus, with a cracked frame housed at DePrizio GMC Trucks, will have to be moved soon. The board previously voted to not pay approximately $11,000 to repair that vehicle.

Additionally, Welford said the district is facing a new “phenomenon” where students are deciding when and where they will get off the bus with a friend. He said specifically, the district received a blanket note from a parent that said her son could get off at his girlfriend’s house whenever he wanted.

Welford said the students getting off at various stops throws off the whole schedule.

“It’s a bus service,” he added. “Not a limo service.”

The board voted to deny such a precedent, stating a special letter for approval must be sent in by a parent or guardian every time a child will change stops. Acceptable excuses include emergencies and baby-sitting arrangements, they said.